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USS Ranger
The final ship of the Lexington-class completed as a battlecruiser, the USS Ranger was launched by President Warren G Harding shortly before he would die later that year. Ranger-Sub class The Ranger's design is very different then her sister ships, already being 35 ft longer than her sisters, due to the desire to fit more secondaries. As such, when the first proposal was made for Lexington-class ships to be converted, Ranger was the first ship to be considered. Work began on converting her when she was 45% complete, with the barbettes in place. However, shortly after work began, the launch of the IJN Amagi in 1922 led to the Ranger once again being reorder as a battlecruiser. The Ranger was 35ft longer than her sisters, with an additional set of boilers to help propel the slightly heavier Ranger to a top speed of 34 kn. Upon her commissioning, the USS Ranger was the heaviest ship afloat, at 47,500 tonnes. Interwar Period After sea trials showed that the Ranger was faster then her sisters, the USS Ranger was made flagship of the first Battle Cruiser squadron, compromised of Saratoga and Constellation in the Pacific. While the lattice masts had been being refitted with modern tripods on nearly all battleships, the Ranger would be the last ship to finally receive a tripod in 1932. However, the only reason she was refit was due to her aft mast collapsing during a semi mild thunderstorm. While the other battlecruisers would receive very extensive refits just prior to the war, the Ranger was put on hold as she was the only 'gun boat' capable of escorting the brand new Yorktown-class aircraft carriers. Shortly after USS Constellation finished her refit in San Francisco, Ranger was slated to be relieved and be put in for an extensive refit. WW2 Service On December 7th, 1941 she was taking part of fleet maneuvering exercises with the USS Enterprise. While she had been running low on fuel and preparing to be replaced with the USS Constellation, after Pearl Harbor, she steamed with a taskforce under the flagship of USS Enterprise. She remained on station until January 1942, having to take fuel from the USS Enterprise. Due to the Japanese bombing the fuel silos at Pearl Harbor, USS Ranger was forced to return to San Diego to be refueled. Returning to frontline service, she would help bombard Midway. However she would be heavily damaged during the Midway Campaign. Shortly after the defeat st Midway, USS Ranger was recalled to the US to undergo a massive refit. From March 1942, to January 1943, USS Ranger was heavily refit. she received a new superstructure with dozens of new bofors and Oerlikons. She received a new reinforced Torpedo Buldge, and had her deck reinforced with an extra 3in of deck armor. She also received a new superstructure. Her dual funnels were replaced with a single dorsal funnel, nearly identical to the Funnels used on the CVs. After this she serves in the Atlantic with USS Saratoga. Present at DDAy. In May of 1948, she underwent a refit at Norfolk Naval Yard, where she received updated radar and new 3in/70 guns to help combat the rise in Kamikaze attacks in the Pacific. Loss Transferring back to the Pacific Fleet in November of 1948, she was about 15nmi out of the Panama Canal, when she came under attack from Japanese aircraft, launched from a Wolfpack of I-4000 submarines attacking the Panama Canal Locks. Taking 6 Torpedo hits, she quickly capsized, with 800 casualties. The rest would be rescued by the Chilean Carrier Almirante Cochrane. Category:United States Navy Category:Battlecruiser